by Andrew Moreno
Lilac City Fairy Tales is back! The event returns to the Bing Crosby Theater this Valentine’s Day, Sunday, February 14.
The reading, which features eleven award-winning local writers and two musicians, is a fundraiser for INK Art Space, a Spokane area nonprofit that works to provide arts education to Spokane’s low-income and at-risk youth. It’s a chance to listen to some great stories, hear some great music, and help the community. There’s no way you’re not going to feel good after a night like that.
Local author Sharma Shields, who spearheaded Fairy Tales last year, is once again coordinating the event and the Lilac City Fairy Tales anthology, alongside Spokane poet Ellen Welcker. Their nonprofit, Scablands Lit, is publishing this year’s anthology, in which all the pieces are inspired by the theme “Marry a Monster.” If you like fantasy or magical realism or fairy tales, this should be right up your alley. Participating authors include PEN USA Award-winning novelist Kim Barnes, short -story writer and EWU lit prof Polly Buckingham, and American Book Award-winner Debra Magpie Earling, along with other talented fiction writers and poets. For the second straight year the readers are all women authors, which is pretty cool, and Jess Walter will speak about INK for a short time, to inform the audience about the organization the event benefits.
Local folk/indie musicians Liz Rognes and Windoe (the solo project of Bartlett owner Karli Ingersoll) will each perform short sets during the night. They’ve both been mainstays of the Spokane music scene for a while, and as anyone who’s seen them live will tell you, they’re really good. For more information you can check out a bunch of Rognes’ performances on Youtube, or go over to the Bartlett, buy a drink, and ask your bartender about Ingersoll’s music. You won’t be disappointed.
Tickets are $17, and you can pick them up at the Bing Crosby Theater or through on their website. For more information, check out the Lilac City Fairy Tales Facebook page.
